Snap-out pack



EEST AVAILABLE COP:

June 27, 1939. z w s 2,164,298

SNAP-OUT PACK '1 Filed Oct. 11, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet l ZZZ/e; liar BESTAVAILABLE COPL June 27, 1939. z w s 22,164,298

SNAP-OUT PACK Filed Oct. 11, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 zzvenzo/p wwdzme w,

7M), D JMH95 EEST AVAILABLE COP\ June 27, 1939. z, w s 2,164,298

SNAP-OUT PACK I Filed Oct. 11, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Ewen/04 @dwaJd/ZQS,

BEST AVAILABLE COP;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SNAP-OUT PACK Edward Z. Lewis, Evanston,Ill., assignor to General Manifold & Printing Co., a corporation ofPennsylvania Application October 11,

15 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in printed forms havinginterleaved carbon sheets or carbon coatings on the back of some of thesheets, and known commercially as snap-out packs.

In such forms as heretofore made, the alternate sheets of record paperand carbon paper are fastened together at the top, either by pasting thesame together or by wire stitching the same in various ways. Beforeassembly, or as they are assembled, the record sheets are perforated orheavily grooved or otherwise weakened so that they may easily be tornout at the perforations or intended line of separation. After the typingoperation, the pack is grasped at the top and the bottom and the recordsheets torn out in a group, leaving the carbons fastened at the top tothe stubs, which latter, with the used carbons, are then discarded. Withthe use of sheets which are greatly weakened by perforations or heavyslots, it is almost impossible to regulate the slots so that said sheetsneither fall apart in the process of collating or hold too fast whenpulled away from the stitched or binding edge. Furthermore, 25 if thereis an uneven pull on the carbon with respect to the binding edge, thecarbon wrinkles. Also, with an uneven pull the carbon-coated materialrubs off on the adjacent sheet in the form of streaks.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a pad in whichthe carbons may be easily pulled out from the record sheets, leaving nostub. This is accomplished, generally speaking, by providing a pair ofsmall notches or slots 5 in one edge of the pack and applying anadhesive to the walls of these notches instead of to the edge of thepack. The pack is so arranged that the carbons are available at the edgeexactly opposite the small notches so that said carbons may be readilygrasped and pulled out. This notched or slotted arrangement of the packsI have designated commercially Wee Notch Packs. Such packs have thefollowing advantages.

The carbons are removed without being wrinkled, and they are removedsmoothly without mutilating the underlying parts, as for example bycausing streaks. Also they are removed with clean edges, leaving norough edges on the back except perhaps for the small notches. The sheets5 forming the pack are held most securely with the least possible amountof adhesive material because the latter is applied in the small notchesor slots so that it resists pulls both in a longitudinal and atransverse direction. lhe slots are preferably rectangular with theresult that the ad- 1937, Serial No. 168,448

hesive is applied to two parallel walls and to the connecting transversewall, whereby a small amount of adhesive will afford considerableresistance to a sliding movement of the sheets over each other eitherlongitudinally or transversely, 5 as compared to gumming the edges ofpaper along the entire length of a. straight outside edge or wall. Withthe rectangular slot there is no possibility that some of the individualsheets fail to receive the adhesive when the forms are being made, aswould be the case where only the cut, flush edges of a pack are glued.The carbons are pulled at an indicated pointwhere the resistance is morenearly exactly opposite said point than with any other arrangement, theresisting .point referring in this case to the two notches collectivelywhich require a uniform distribution of the pull when removing a sheet,and which insure that the carbons will be pulled out flat and straight.

Another object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a pad in whichthe forms and the carbons are held together at a few points only, withthe sheets of one kind arranged to be grasped almost diametricallyopposite these points, so that when the carbons are pulled out therewill be an even pull, which avoids wrinkling.

Another object is to provide for this result by the use of an adhesivepositioned in small notches or slots cut in the edges of the pack, theadhesive being applied to the walls of said notches, whereby the degreeof pull required to separate the sheets may be almost anything desired,depending on the amount of adhesive used and the method of applicationto the walls of the notches.

A further object is to provide a form of this character which can be fitinto a typewriter without the risk of some of the sheets folding back onthemselves.

A further object is to provide an improvedpad comprising a number ofindividual sets of forms of the character described, the sheets of eachset and all of the sets being detachably secured to each other at oneedge so that the individual sets may readily be separated one from theother for use in a typewriter or elsewhere.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown several embodiments of theinvention which will serve to illustrate the several features of theinvention:

Fig. l is a plan View of a pack;

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a bottom View thereof;

Fig. 4 is a perspective View thereof;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the various sheets Fig. 6 is aperspective vievv ofa modified of pack;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a further modified form;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a duplicate type of pack partly unfoldedto illustrate the arrangement of the sheets;

Fig. 9 shows an auxiliary carbon sheet; and

Figs. 10-l3 show further modifications.

In all of these various forms, small slots or notches are employed, withan adhesive applied to the walls of said slots or notches.

In the first form of the invention the outer sheet is preferably doublethe length of the other sheets and comprises two sections, l8, l,separated by a line of weakening in the form of a row of indentations orso-called perforations H, as shown in Fig. 5, these sections forming theupper and lower covers for the pack or unit. Between these two coversare alternate sheets of carbon paper and record paper. Fig. shows asimple arrangement in which there are three such sheets, the uppermostsheet comprising a sheet of carbon paper l2, a record sheet 13 beingbeneath it, and a second carbon sheet i l beneath said record sheet. Thetwo carbon sheets each have anotch 15 at the top, preferably at themiddle. The top and bottom cover sheets H), l (1', are each notched atthe bottom, as at l5, l6, and the intermediate record sheet i3 is alsosimilarly notched at H. The notches at the bottom are exactly oppositethose at the top.

The sheets are assembled one over the other in substantially perfectregistration to form the pack, and when a plurality of similar packs aresuperimposed, a pile or pad of any desired thickness results, as shown,for example, in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. The bottom of the pad may have a sheetof cardboard 18 to stiffen the same.

The pack is then slotted at the bottom by making two saw cuts IS in thesame, one on each side of the thumb notch l6, and fairly close to thesame. A suitable adhesive such as glue or cement is then applied to thesmall slots thus formed and hence all the sheets are held together attwo localized points. The slots are preferably rectangular, as shown, i.e. they have three sides, two of which are parallel. The amount ofadhesive on the parallel walls determines the pull necessary to removethe sheet, as with a deeper notch the side walls are longer and hencethe lines of adhesion to be torn apart are longer, whereas with ashallower notch the side walls are shorter and the sheets more readilydetached. The carbons may extend as far down as the lower edges of therecord sheets but as shown in Fig. 1 they terminate preferably justslightly short of the lower edges, and, therefore, are held lesssecurely than the record sheets. In use the uppermost pack is readilylifted off, as the packs are secured together at the bottom only,whereas they are free to be spread apart at the top, as shown in Fig. 2.Said pack is readily torn off as it is held to the pack beneath it onlyby the glue in the two bottom grooves or slots. Said pack is theninserted in the typewriterand the typing is done in the usual manner.

Since the upper margins of the carbon sheets are notched at l5, it isapparent that the two types of sheets may readily be separated bygrasping the upper middle portion of the pad with one hand and theexposed carbons at the bottom of the pad with the other hand, exactlyopposite the BEST AVNLABLE @QP":

upper gripping point, the carbons being pulled out smoothly in the righthand and discarded. The 'upper and lower sections l6, ill may then bedetached from each other by tearing along the line of weakening H, thusproviding three record sheets in this case. The carbon sheets and therecord sheets before being pulled apart are held together only by theadhesive in the slots N3. N0 adhesive is used at the edge of the pack.

Where only two sheets are to be pulled out as in the form shown in Figs.1-5 inclusive, the resistance to separation of each sheet may be maderelatively greater than where a larger number of sheets are employed. Inthe case of a large number of carbons, all of which are removed with asingle pull, the resistance per sheet is lessened by using a shallowernotch, as previously explained, so that the pull required to separateall the sheets at once will not be excessive. In general, the depth ofthe notches is made inversely proportional to the number of sheets to bedetached at a single pull.

It will be apparent that additional adhesive on the edge of the packwould be objectionable as it would increase the pull necessary to removethe desired sheets and would thus nullify the carefully regulatedresistance to separation arising out of the use of a notch ofpredetermined depth.

The carbon sheets may have the transfer material applied thereto overthe entire surface or the lower margins may be left uncoated, to avoidsoiling the fingers. The provision of notches, having walls parallel tothe line of pull, as well as transverse thereto, and the adhesive onsaid walls, prevents any of the inner sheets, either carbon or recordsheets, from. accidentally coming loose from the outside folded sheet.Furthermore, the fact that the sheets are enclosed Within the foldedcover and are each secured to the other at the bottom prevents the samefrom blowing or lifting and folding over when being fed into any kind oftyping machine.

In the form of pad shown in Fig. 6 the slots 20 are applied near onecorner and the carbons are cut ofi diagonally at 35 adjacent said slots.The record sheets are cut off diagonally at diametrically opposite thecorner Where the carbons are cut off. The adhesive is applied as beforeand the packs may be made up into pads substantially as before. Thecarbon sheets are pulled out diagonally from the record sheets, as willbe apparent. The pull, as before, is in a line at right angles to theline connecting the wee notches.

In the form of pack just described, a larger number of sheets are shownthan in the previous forms and with this form it is possible to detachone or two sheets at another point at the bottom without disturbing thecarbons, making it possible, as for instance in making out a masterinvoice 23, to leave the carbons intact and secured to the remainingparts. This is desirable, for example, where the packs are handledroughly during the interval before the weights and exact quantitiesactually shipped are known and which are inserted later. It isunderstood that in all entry order invoices and shipping combinations,certain sheets go to the plant and others to the ofiice.

Fig. 7 shows another form in which the slots are at the top of thesheets 24, instead of at the bottom as they are in Figs. 1-5. Aduplicate arrangement is shown in Fig. 8, in which two packs such asseen in Fig. '7, are joined in the following BEST AVAlLABLE COPY manner:An outer sheet or cover is formed in four sections, 25, 25, 25 and 25the four units being separated by lines of perforations to show thatthey may be detached. The sheet, as shown in Fig. 8, is folded on themiddle line of perforations to form twohalves, each half being foldedover and containing alternate record sheets and carbon sheets. Thus twosets of forms are provided each of which may consist of the same numberor a different number of record sheets and carbon sheets. One end unitin Fig. 8 consists of the upper sheet or cover section 25, a carbonsheet 26 notched at the top, a second sheet 21 notched at the bottom, acarbon sheet 28 notched at the top, and the lower sheet or cover section25, all five of these sheets being held together by the adhesive in theslots 29. The lower half of the form is the same, in this instance, asthe upper half, each consisting of a folded cover, 1. e. two coversections and three enclosed sheets, or a total of five sheets, heldtogether by the adhesive in the slots cut through the edge of the foldedsheet, as will be apparent from the drawings. In each case an additionalcarbon sheet 38 is inserted between the two sets of forms, which sheetmay cover only part of the printed material on the sheet beneath it soas not to transfer all of the typing that appears on the other sheets.Such additional carbon sheet in one form is shown in Fig. 9, in whichthe coated surface is on the under side. The slots 29 at the top of thissheet indicate how the same would be assembled as part of thecombination form shown in Fig. 8, being superimposed on top of theprinted form 25 in said figure. After typing, the two halves may beseparated, leaving the parts of said two halves intact, i. e. with thesheets adhering to each other. One group of sheets, for example, may beretained in the office and the other group sent to the factory, afterwhich the two groups may be furtherseparated before filing, as in thefirst case described. The notches 29 in the two halves, of course,register exactly with each other when the sheets are fully folded.

With the arrangement described, it is an easy matter to apply an evenpull along a line at right angles to the line connecting the wee notcheswhen the carbons are being pulled out, thus avoiding wrinkling of thesheets and mutilation of the carbons or of the adjacent sheets.

In addition to the advantages of the Figs. 7 and 8 forms previouslyenumerated, there is the further advantage that the carbons and therecord sheets, which may be printed forms, are inserted into the foldedouter sheet and are held in place thereby. The edge of the fold whichcontacts whatever feeding apparatus is encountered, as for example inusing a typewriter, addressograph, or rotary feed writing machine, willbe free from gum or adhesive of any kind as the adhesive used is in thesmall notches and is, therefore, set back from the feeding edge. Theadhesive, it will be noted, holds all of the parts in their intendedposiitons so that none of them become displaced either in handling orfeeding the same into a machine. Also, the adhesive holds together theseveral forms in the form of a pad, the notches being in such positionthat a typist working on the forms, lifts a set oif the top of the padwithout fingering over separate parts of each form, as the folded edgeis not gummed and the two notches hold the various sets temporarily inregistration, as shown in Fig, 2, for example, and with an almostnegligible amount of adhesive.

By graduating the sizes of the thumb notches or half moon cuts, orcorner cuts, certain parts after typing of the set may conveniently bepulled out, leaving all the rest of the parts intact. In the case of thehalf moon cuts, for example, the arcs of the circles of the superimposedsheets would be concentrically arranged whereby the sheets could bepulled out in predetermined order by grasping the exposed areas in thenatural order in which they appear. This is illustrated in Fig. in whichthe folded sheet 3! has substantially concentric, arc-shaped cuts, as aresult of which the operator may first grasp the exposed area 32 andpull out a sheet which may, for example, be a delivery slip or slips.When the delivery slips are completed on the part first detached, onepart is sent back to permit completion of the invoice which is put backin the typewriter and the additional information is typed. Later thecarbon or carbons 33 are pulled out and the various remaining sheetsseparated and distributed.

The same arrangement may be provided, as for example by means of thecorner cuts such as shown in Fig. 6. The triangular areas cut off maybeof different sizes, whereby one sheet may be pulled out ahead of theothers. As shown in Fig. 6, one of the record sheets has its lower lefthand corner projecting for this same purpose, although said projectingcorner is not needed where the remaining corners are cut off differentamounts.

A further development of this feature is shown in Figs. l1, l2 and 13,in which the outer sheet 34 may be folded as before and provided withsmall slots or notches 35, 36. Transfer material 37 is provided in theform, preferably, of a separate sheet, or of a carbon coating on theback of the top sheet. All the sheets which are intended to be pulledout ahead of the others, such as the delivery slip 38 may have, forexample, a thumb notch 39 at the upper edge near the left hand side, anda cut-out portion or clearance 40 near the right hand side of the upperedge. The sheet H has two cut-outs 42 and 43 at the top, arranged inreverse order to those shown in Fig. 12. When the top sheet is graspedbetween the slots 35 and the exposed sheet or sheets are graspeddiametrically opposite this point and pulled, the delivery sheet orsheets will be pulled out, as said sheets are not secured to the othersheets except by the adhesive in the slots 35. The clearance illprevents any application of the adhesive to the upper right hand part ofsaid sheet. The assembled sheets are shown in dotted lines in the upperpart of Fig.11. If it is desired next to pull out the carbons, the samemay be seized at the lower edge, exactly opposite the area between thesmall slots 36, which area is grasped at the top. The clearance 43, inthis case, permits the removal of the carbons without interference atthe slots 35, 35.

Suitable directions may be printed on the upper sheet, as shown in Fig.11 for example, i. e. Pull first at one side, and Pull carbons at theother side of the upper sheet. Similar instructions may, of course, beprinted on the other packs described herein, wherever appropriate.

While the top and bottom sheets in the several forms shown herein arepreferably made from a single folded sheet, two separate sheets may beemployed instead. One advantage of the folded sheet is that it providesa tapering or wedgeshaped edge which will more readily pass between thefeed rollers of a typewriter or other device into which the packs arefed. Such insertion may be further facilitated by having some of theinserted sheets terminate a little short of the folded edge, but notenough to avoid contact with the adhesive.

I claim:

1. A snap-out pack comprising alternate record sheets and carbon sheets,a slot in one edge of said pack intersecting all of said sheets and anadhesive in said slot only, to hold said carbon sheets lightly to saidrecord sheets, and providing the sole means for holding said recordsheets to each other, whereby said sheets may be detached readily fromeach other.

2. A snap-out pack comprising alternate record sheets and carbon sheets,a slot in one edge of said pack intersecting all of said sheets, anadhesive in said slot only to detachably hold said carbon sheets to saidrecord sheets, and providing the sole means for holding said recordsheets to each other, said carbon sheets being cut at one side to permitthe record sheets only to be grasped and said record sheets being cut onthe opposite side to permit the carbon sheets only to be grasped, thusseparating the tWo groups of sheets, when pulled in opposite directions.

3. A snap-out pack as in claim 2, in which said slot is located in theedge opposite the cut out parts of said record sheets.

4. A snap-out pack comprising alternate record sheets and carbon sheets,the top and bottom record sheets consisting of a single sheet foldedover the other sheets, a slot in one edge of said pack intersecting allof said sheets and an adhesive in said slot to detachably hold all ofsaid sheets lightly to each other and Without other fastening means.

5. A snap-out pack comprising alternate record sheets and carbon sheets,cut-out portions on the edges of said pack exactly opposite each otherto provide means for separating certain sheets by grasping the same atthe area exposed by the cutout portion of the adjacent sheet, one ofsaid edges being provided with a slot on each side of and adjacent acut-out portion, said slot intersecting all of said sheets, andcontaining a small amount of adhesive material comprising the sole meansof securing said sheets to each other.

6. A pack as in claim 5, in which the top and bottom sheets consist of asingle folded sheet, with the remaining sheets inserted therein.

'7. A snap-out pack as in claim 5, in which the outside sheet isapproximately four times the size of the pack and has its ends foldedtoward the center forming two sections, each of said folded sectionscontaining additional record sheets interleaved with carbon sheets, eachsection being folded on itself with an additional carbon between saidsections, said sections being slotted at the folded edges thereof andprovided with adhesive in said slots.

8. A snap-out pack comprising two sets of alternate record sheets andcarbon sheets, a slot in one edge of said pack intersecting all of saidsheets, an adhesive in said slot to detachably hold r said carbon sheetsto said record sheets, the top and bottom sheets consisting of parts ofa longer sheet folded into two panels, each of said panels being foldedon itself and containing record sheets and carbon sheets comprising oneof said sets.

9. A pack of the character described, comprising superimposed recordsheets and interleaved carbon sheets, each having an edge aligned withthe other edges, two small, spaced, rectangular slots in said edges, anadhesive in each slot applied to the three walls thereof, to resistseparation of said sheets by sliding them out of the pack in a directionparallel to or at right angles to oertain of said walls, and an exposed,designated gripping area on the opposite side of said pack from saidslots, arranged equidistant from said slots, to insure simultaneousrelease of said sheets When gripped and pulled from said pack.

10. A snap-out pack comprising alternate record sheets and carbonsheets, cut-out portions on the edges of said pack exactly opposite eachother to provide means for separating certain sheets by grasping thesame at the area exposed by the cut-out portion of the adjacent sheet,one of said edges being provided with a slot on each side of andadjacent a cut-out portion, said slot intersecting all of said sheets,and containing a small amount of adhesive material, said pack beingprovided also with a slot on each side of and adjacent another cut-outportion, said slot intersecting all of said sheets and containing asmall amount of adhesive material, whereby after the first sheets areremoved, additional material may be Written on the remaining sheets andthe carbons separated from said remaining sheets.

11. A snap-out pack comprising record sheets with carbon sheetsinterleaved between the same, said sheets having small, spaced slots inone edge thereof and a cut-out portion opposite the same to permitremoval of an underlying sheet by a direct pull, and small additionalslots in another part of said pack with a cut-out portion opposite thesame, adhesive material in all of said slots to hold said sheets lightlyin assembled relation, whereby certain sheets may be removed by a directpull away from said additional slots.

12. A snap-out pack as in claim 11, in which the said sheets to bedetached have cut-out portions adjacent the said slots to permit thewithdrawal thereof when the other superimposed sheets are gripped atthat point and having also a clearance adjacent the other slots tofacilitate said withdrawal.

13. A snap-out pack having a'superimposed group of record sheets withinterleaved carbon sheets, the top and bottom record sheets having twopairs of slots in one edge thereof and having two thumb notches in theopposite edge thereof, each notch being opposite a pair of slots,certain of the other of said record sheets having slots in registrationwith said first slots and having a thumb notch adjacent one pair ofslots and a cut-away portion providing a clearance adjacent the otherpair of slots, adhesive material in each of said slots to hold saidsheets in detachable relation, and carbon sheets having a cutawayportion or clearance at the upper edge adjacent the first pair of slotsand having a thumb notch in said upper edge adjacent the second pair ofslots.

14. A snap-out pack comprising a folded cover sheet, alternating carbonsheets and record sheets therein, cut-outs in the top of each carbonsheet, two slots in the folded edges of said cover sheet registeringwith similar slots in the upper edge of each carbon sheet on oppositesides of the cut-out therein, a cut-out in the bottom of the said recordsheets and an adhesive in said slots to hold the exposed edges to eachother.

15. A snap-out pack comprising a folded cover sheet, alternating carbonsheets and record sheets enclosed therein with one edge of each insubstantial contact with the fold in said cover sheet, the top andbottom enclosed sheets being carbon sheets, cut-outs in the top of eachcarbon sheet, two rectangular cuts in the folded edges of said coversheet intersecting the upper margins of all the sheets therein, the cutsin said BEST AVAlLABLE COPY carbon sheets being evenly spaced onopposite sides of the cut-outs therein, a cut-out in the bottom of saidrecord sheets equidistant from the rectangular cuts therein, said cutsbeing the same size and having their opposite parallel Walls coated tothe same extent with an adhesive so that a light predetermined pull willrelease said carbon sheets from the pack and whereby said record sheetsmay thereafter be readily detached from each other.

EDWARD Z. LEWIS.

